Kim Jong-nam was assassinated Monday, inside a crowded Malaysian airport
The Indonesian assassin Siti ‘nice girl’ Aisyah, claims she thought it was prank and she was only paid $100 to come to Malaysia and kill a man she didn’t know was a prince’Her father-in-law, Tjia Liong Kiong, said Aisyah was a “very kind, polite and respectful person.”
“I was shocked to hear that she was arrested for murdering someone,” he said. “I don’t believe that she will do such a crime or what the media says, an intelligence agent, although I don’t know what she had in her mind.”
Police have also detained Aisyah’s boyfriend, but he was only assisting investigators in their probe.
Vietnamese assassin, Doan Thi Hoang aka the “LOL assassin” was picked up Wednesday by Malaysian police
Four other men were being sought in connection with the slaying, suggesting that it was an organized plot to kill, the Korean leader’s older sibling.
South Korean officials have theorized that Jong Nam’s dictator half-brother was responsible for the attack. This view stems from the long-standing bad blood between the two brothers. Jong Un had been at war with Jong Nam ever since Jong Nam dissed his leadership of North Korea in the press.
Before Monday, Jong Nam had reportedly dodged several attempts on his life — and Jong Un was believed to be behind the botched hits.
The apparentlly well planned attack went off with just one snag, Jong-nam’s assassins were caught on cameras throughout the airport. Two women, both in their 20s, were believed to be the alleged assassins.
Doan Thi Huong, 28, who had Vietnamese travel documents was arrested Wednesday when she returned to the airport. Authorities identified her using footage from a surveillance camera affixed to a taxi stand outside a departure terminal.
Her accomplice, Siti Aisyah, 25, who was carrying an Indonesian passport, was arrested Thursday morning along with her boyfriend, Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, 26, of Malaysia.
“She was also positively identified from the CCTV footage at the airport and was alone at the time of arrest,” Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement.
Banished, then murdered. Was Kim Jong-nam’s assassination planned in his homeland?
A Malaysian security source said the six perpetrators ,who were total strangers to each other before the assassination, were all in custody. The two women and four men allegedly, recruited for the job by a secret agent, having being telling their side of the story.
It is believed that one of the men may have disguised himself as a woman during the attack.
Lending credence to the foreign plot theory, Federal Police Special Branch director Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said” “We have reason to believe that this might be the work of foreign agents.”
In a bizarre defense, Aisyah and Huong both allegedly told police they thought the plot was part of a “prank” and didn’t know they’d be taking out the exiled prince.
Aisyah had been working as a nightclub hostess in Kuala Lumpur when a strange man came into the establishment and offered her $100 if she’d join the team, she told police, according to Indonesian news site Kumpuran.
Claiming no knowledge of her victim’s identity, Aisyah, a the divorced mom said she went along with the stunt because she was strapped for cash.
Huong, who said she went back to the airport to catch a flight after the others abandoned her, told a similar story to authorities, saying she was also tricked into carrying out the plot.
While the masterminds behind the scheme is yet to be unearthed, some were quick to point in the direction of his reportedly, jealous, estranged half-brother.
The assassination of the leader’s brother, Kim Jong-nam, is announced on Korean TV
North Korean dictator Kim-Jong-un: Yet to be proven finger pointing in connection with the death of his half-brother
Jong-un was suspected to be behind two past assassination attempts against Jong-nam, in 2010 and 2011. Five years ago, Jong-nam even begged the North Korean dictator not to harm him and his family, South Korea’s intelligence agency said.
“He knew his life was at risk . . . and he was aware his brother was after him,” a source told the South China Morning Post.
Kim Jong-nam, though the oldest of the four children their father kim Jong-il, had stated that he did not have political ambitions. Still he was publicly critical of the North Korean regime and his brother’s legitimacy in the past.
He seemed to have toned down his public criticism of his brother’s regime since 2011, after an alleged North Korean sponsored assassination attempt failed in Macau. In 2012, South Korea claimed to have jailed a North Korean spy who admitted leading another failed attempt in China, in 2010.
Kim Jong-nam may have become more vulnerable as his defender in the North Korean hierarchy, Kim Kyong-hui – Kim Jong-un’s aunt and the husband of his executed uncle, Jang Song-thaek – appears to have fallen from favour or died. She has not been seen in public for more than three years, Gause said.
Kim Jong-il had at least three sons with two women, as well as a daughter by a third. with Kim Jong-nam being the eldest.
The second son, Kim Jong-chul, is also a known as a playboy. It’s unclear what role he plays in his brother’s administration.
The youngest Kim sibling and the only girl, Kim Yo-jong is seen as Kim Jong-un’s attack dog and gate keeper. She was named to the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Committee, May 2016. She has a propaganda and agitation portfolio
North Korean strongman Kim Jong-il, with his eldest child Kim Jong-nam in 1981
Despite the attempts on his life, Kim Jong-nam Despite his fears, Jong-nam had a relaxed attitude about his personal security, and even chronicled his glamorous life on Facebook. He had reportedly traveled to North Korea since then, so it was assumed he was no longer under threat.
Using the alias Kim Chol, the same name printed on his passport during the Monday attack, the banished the late Kim Jong-nam posted numerous photos of himself in front of fancy hotels and tourist sites around the world.
The profile page for Kim Chol listed his residence as Macau.
In the view of South Korean Intelligence Secretary Cha Du-hyeogn, the proclivity to “Open activities like these do not look like they are coming from a person who is constantly under death threats,” Cha Du-hyeogn said
“I think it is possible that Kim was careless, leading to his unsuspecting death.”
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